Language and Meaning

Description

The course focuses on the study of the analysis of meaning as it is expressed through elements of language such as words and sentences (the field of semantics) and as it is understood in different real world contexts (the filed of pragmatics). Particular attention will be paid to meaning relations such as synonym (having the same meaning) and oppositeness, to various types of conclusions that sentences lead to or involve (such as presuppositions), to elements that crucially depend on context for their interpretation (including deictic elements, which are linked to the non-linguistic context), to the meaning of verbal categories such as tense and mood, and to the relation between language and logic.

Availability

WebLearn GradSchool

Semester 2 - 2015

Callaghan

Semester 2 - 2015

Learning Outcomes

1. An understanding of nature of meaning as expressed through language;

2. An understanding of basic principles of semantics and pragmatics as applied to English

3. An awareness of the range of linguistic devices for expressing time and space relations;

4. An understanding of the concepts of deixis and anaphora;

5. An understanding of logical relations relevant to linguistic analysis, such as negation, modality, scope, presupposition and implication

Content

Topics to be covered include:

Deixis: reference to the spatio-temporal frame encompassing the speech act

Tense and time reference: tense and aspect systems in the English verb

Mood and modality

Anaphora: textual reference; the function of pronouns and other anaphoric items